CHAPTER 1
1682 Words
The next day
Mrs. Joan Williams sat in front of her dressing mirror, brushing her long, soft hair. She was getting dressed for the day, just like every other day. She had her stylist arrange her outfit on her mannequin a day before so she wouldn't get stressed looking for an outfit.
“Tomorrow is going to be a good day, Tonya,” she said to her stylist yesterday. She was sitting on her dressing chair while looking at Tonya through the mirror. “I want to put on something soft, something that will have my husband’s eyes all over me all day.” She blushed with a small smile playing on her lips.
“You got it, ma’am,” Tonya replied with a smile and immediately went to work.
She stood in front of her mannequin, staring at the dress picked out for today. She had a full grin on her face, showing how pleased she was with Tonya’s effort.
“Today is going to be a good day,” she let out a small sigh. “I can feel it for sure.”
She began to dress up in her navy blue, mid-length, sleeveless silk gown. The front was low, exposing a bit of her cleavage, so she had a small multicolored scarf tied around her neck. She slid her legs into her white Louboutin heels and went back to her mirror to take in her full look this time. She smoothed the dress with her hand and smiled, loving exactly what she saw.
Immediately she was done, she walked out of her room, down the stairs to the dining room.
“My tea, Hilda,” she instructed as she moved to her seat.
“Yes, ma’am,” Hilda responded.
A few minutes later, Hilda served her tea. Mrs. Williams immediately got busy by scrolling through her messages on her phone and responded to some of them until she came across one that left her taken aback so much so that she jumped off her seat. She was about to make a call to confirm when her confirmation came right through the big entrance door. Right there, Tony, Mr. Jayden Williams' driver, came in, grief written all over his face.
“I'm so sorry, Madam, I'm so sorry,” he said, the sound of his voice laced with grief.
“No, no…. It can't be. No,” she whispered to herself, holding on to the dining table for support.
“I'm so sorry, Madam,” he said again, but she turned to deaf ears.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” she screamed as loud as her voice could. “NO! MY HUSBAND IS NOT GONE! NOOO! IMPOSSIBLE!” The sound of her loud voice drew the attention of everyone in the house. She immediately fell to the ground with her knees and palms, making hard contact with the tiled floor.
This time, everyone came out and surrounded Mrs. Williams in the sitting room, where she screamed continuously, pity written all over their faces. No one had ever seen Mrs. Williams in that state, not even when she had lost her pregnancy twice in the early years of her marriage, not even when she was told she could never have children again. This was grief at its peak. She was broken, and nothing could fix it.
“He will come back. He's not gone,” she consoled herself in between sobs.
“My husband is not dead. No, he’s not,” she whispered as she gradually laid her body on the floor.
It was 9:00 p.m., and Mrs. Williams was still in the same spot since the news reached her. She had no food or water at that time, despite the efforts of the domestic workers around her.
Mr. Frank and Mr. Gary, alongside his wife, Mrs. Dominique Gary, who happened to be friends with the Williams, walked through the entrance door. They were all surprised to see Mrs. Williams lying on the floor.
“What are you doing, Joan?” Mrs. Gary made haste to her, her French accent dominating her voice. “Don’t tell me you've been like this for a while.” She made efforts to pull her up, but Mrs. Williams did not bother investing any energy in her body.
“How long has she been like this?” Mrs. Gary asked Hilda while still making efforts to lift her friend up.
“Since the news came. It's well past 7 hours or more,” Hilda replied.
“What? And you couldn't help her or something?” Mr. Frank attacked furiously.
“We tried, sir. But she wouldn't budge.”
“Isn't that why you were employed? You couldn't come up with anything?” Mr. Gary lashed back at the workers.
They all surrounded Mrs. Williams with Mr. Frank and Mrs. Gary helping her up from the floor.
“Your body is so cold, Joan. You shouldn't be going through this. This isn't what Jayden would want you to go through,” Mrs. Gary consoled her friend.
“If he didn't want me to go through this, then he shouldn't have left me.” Her voice cracked as a few drops of tears rolled down her tender cheeks.
“Bring her some water to drink,” Mr. Frank instructed Hilda.
She was served the water and took a huge amount before placing it on the table. They stayed quiet for a bit before Mrs. Williams broke the silence.
“How did it happen?”
They all exchanged glances, contemplating whether they should tell her and who should.
“You could tell me. I am mature enough to handle it,” she said, as though reading their minds.
“He was murdered in cold blood, Joan,” Mr. Frank paused a little before continuing. “His body was found outside a warehouse in Bunker Hill.”
She looked shocked, turning to Mr. Frank, “That's one of the company’s warehouses. How is that even possible?”
“He was beaten and stabbed multiple times,” Mr. Gary continued. “Also, there was a trace of poison in the building. The authorities have taken it for investigation, and his body has been taken for autopsy to see if the poison is in his body. That could be a lead.”
“What?!!” Mrs. Williams flared up, rising from her chair. “And no one cared to give me an update all this time???” She shouted, looking at all of them. “This is my husband for Christ's sake. I ought to know everything that is going on!!!”
“We understand, but we did not want to put you through any other stress. You already had a lot going on,” Frank replied, standing up and getting closer to calm her down.
“Frank, you should know better. I didn't expect this from you of all people.”
“But don't you think it's a good thing if they find the person responsible for this? He has to be brought to justice,” Mrs. Gary said.
“I mean yes. But at least I want to know that I have everything under control and things are done my way.”
“I understand, Joan, and you can start all that when you are ready, especially emotionally, but right now you should focus on resting,” Mrs. Gary replied, holding her friend’s shoulders lightly. “Look at you, Joan. You look like a shadow of yourself. You have us to do all the work for you right now while you get yourself back.”
“I agree,” Mr. Frank replied, giving her shoulder a little squeeze.
She looked at them all, her demeanor relaxing a bit. Her eye bags were so prominent, making her eyelids almost meet with each other. Her skin was now pale, and her hair rough.
“Thank you guys so much for your companionship. You have no idea how your presence gives me the feeling that I'm not alone in this. Thank you so much.” Her words were tinged with fatigue and weariness.
They all replied with little nods, still in the mood of grief.
“Anything, and I mean anything at all that you want, do not hesitate to give us a call. We will come to you before you even know,” Mr. Gary told her, holding the upper part of her shoulder.
“I will. Thank you.”
“You know, if you want me to stay around with you tonight I actually could,” Mrs. Gary told her, still holding her hands.
“No, that's not necessary, Dominique. You should rest,” Mrs. Williams replied.
“No, I mean I—--”
“You have done enough for me, Dominique. Don't worry yourself. I'll be fine. Thank you.” She kissed Mrs. Gary’s hand before letting it go.
They watched her go upstairs to her room first before they all drove back to their various homes.
Mrs. Williams woke up to the continuous sound of knocking on her room door. She immediately got up to open the door and met with Naomi, her personal assistant.
“Is there a problem?” She rubbed her sleepy eyes upon waking up.
“Good morning, ma’am,” Naomi replied.
“Yes?”
“Well, um, Mr. Frank and Mr. Gary are actually downstairs. I informed them that you were still in bed, but they insisted, saying it's really important.”
“It's fine. Tell them I'll be down after I freshen up.”
“Alright, ma’am.”
Mrs. Williams walked down the stairs to meet her acquaintances after she freshened up.
“What was so important that my sleep had to be interrupted?” She asked as she walked down the stairs.
“Joan. Hi,” Mr. Frank greeted her, rising from his seat.
“Well, hello Joan. There is an issue, actually,” Mr. Gary also stood up.
“Which is?”
“The company, Joan. An uproar has broken out among the board of directors," Mr. Gary replied.
“What?”
- Writer
